When Stanley pulled up to the apartment, I immediately saw Alexi’s SUV parked out front. My heart thudded as we neared, and I met Stanley’s eyes in the rearview mirror.

“Shall I keep driving?” he asked as he slowed.

The SUV’s driver’s side door opened, and Maxx climbed out, his eyes locking on mine through the front windshield. He leaned against the car and folded his arms. Alexi wasn’t with him. But that didn’t mean anything.

“No, Stanley, this is fine.” I had to face the music sometime.

“All right.” He turned to me, waiting for something.

I cleared my throat. “Sergei said you’d arrange things?” He smiled and handed me a card from inside his pocket.

“Call this number. Just let him know who you are. And if you need me again, just call the service. They’ll get a hold of me.”

He was still smiling, but I saw that smile differently than I used to. Any warmth seemed to have leeched out of it.

“Thank you.”

“My pleasure.”

I climbed out of the car and grabbed my bag. Bypassing the stairs to the apartment, I went directly to the SUV, where Maxx opened the back door and waited for me to climb in before closing it. He gave me a wary look in the rearview mirror, started the car, and drove toward the club. Neither of us spoke the entire way, and I didn’t bother to check my phone for a message from Damon. I knew there would be one by now, and to hear his voice would test my resolve.

We arrived at Club Carmen before opening, so we only passed a handful of staff on our way to Alexi’s office. Maxx walked me to it, staying close behind me as if I might try to run. As if I could get away from them. All the while, my meeting with Sergei played in my mind. What he wanted. The alternative to having to be Alexi’s whore.

When we reached the office, Maxx reached over my head to knock on the door before opening it.

Alexi sat behind his desk. When he saw me, he leaned back in his seat, his face hard and cold.

“Well, well, well, the prodigal server.”

“Um, I don’t think you’re using that word correctly.” Not my smartest move, but I couldn’t help it.

He stood and walked around his desk. I heard the door close and saw Maxx take up his position beside it, his big arms folded, watching but invisible.

“I’d shut up if I were you,” Alexi said.

He perched on the edge of his desk and cocked his head to the side as he looked at me.

“Take off your coat.”

I did, folding it over the back of the chair he didn’t invite me to sit on.

“Don’t you look…refreshed? Sunny even. Certainly not getting that color here in freezing Manhattan, are you?”

“Something came up. I had to go out of town.”

“That so?”

“Yes.”

“What exactly came up?”

“A friend needed me in Florida. I went to help her.”

“Her?”

“Yes.”

He came toward me, arms at his sides. I remembered how he’d slapped me once and instinctively prepared for him to do it again. He must have liked that because he chuckled.

“Who was she with, Maxx?” Alexi asked, eyes on me.

“Stepping out of a taxi on her own, sir.”

What?

I glanced quickly over at Maxx, who looked straight ahead, then back at Alexi. Why had he just lied? If he’d told Alexi I’d climbed out of a private car with a driver, Alexi would have known it was his father’s. But why would Maxx lie to protect me?

Was it to protect me?

Alexi’s cold, pale eyes bore into mine before he circled me, standing so close I felt his breath on my shoulder.

He inhaled.

“I don’t smell sex on you, but that only means you weren’t recently fucked.”

“What business is it of yours if I was?”

“Were you?”

“What do you want, Alexi?”

“I want to know why you walked out when you were supposed to be working the party. You left the other servers to pick up your slack. And I want to know how in hell you disappeared to Florida for two days given your financial situation, not to mention calling in sick at the last minute and leaving me in the lurch.”

“Look, I’m sorry about that, but it was unavoidable that I go. This was a good friend who got into an accident and needed my help. I couldn’t leave her stranded. She paid for my ticket. As for leaving the party,” I paused, dropping my head. Alexi still stood behind me, hovering like the freaking Grim Reaper. I turned to face him. “Honestly, Alexi, I got scared,” I said, trying to look pitiful. “And I know it was wrong to leave like that, but all those people and the things that were going on—”

He held up a hand to stop me and turned to Maxx. “You can step outside.”

Maxx nodded and left the room.

“Go on.”

“I was going to ask you if I could make up the time, actually. I felt bad for leaving, and I’m ready for it now. Now that I know what to expect. And as you know, I could use the money. If that’s okay with you, of course.”

He studied my face, obviously having trouble believing me.

“What the fuck is going on, Kat?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your sudden interest in attending a party?”

“I make more money, which means I can pay you back faster and get on with my life.”

He didn’t look convinced.

“You owe me for leaving early. It fucked with the night.”

“I’m sorry. I just…it was too much, Alexi. Really.”

“There’s a party on Wednesday night,” he said.

“There is?” Shit. I knew I had to do it, but every instinct told me no. Told me to run.

“If you’re serious about this—”

“I am. I just…it’s hard, you can understand?”

“Midnight Wednesday. I’ll see you upstairs. If you’re not there—”

“I’ll be there. I promise.”

He resumed his seat behind his desk and picked up a pen. I remained standing, waiting for him to dismiss me. He liked doing that.

“You’re excused.”

Fuck you. “Thanks.”

With that, I left, declining Maxx’s offer to drive me home and choosing to walk instead. I took out my phone and the card Stanley had given me. The secretary put me through right away, and when I said my name, he knew exactly who I was and told me he’d have a folder couriered to the apartment. I thanked him and hung up then braced myself to listen to the voice mail messages.

Damon had left three. The first must have been before he’d gotten back to the hotel because it was playful. It twisted my heart to hear it. The next wasn’t playful. Not at all. And the final one, well, I listened to it as I turned the corner to the brownstone, not at all surprised to find him waiting there for me.

He gave me a hard look, and I didn’t smile. Instead, I retrieved my key and unlocked the door, letting him follow me inside.